Manchester United's 10 Worst Premier League Signings

#4 William Prunier

MAN U V QPR

Err, who? Exactly!

You know how when you’re playing football as a kid and you let one of your friend’s friends play just out of kindness? Well, the case of William Prunier wasn’t too dissimilar to that.

Back in 1995, Manchester United were an all-powerful force of nature in English football. But when disaster struck in the form of injuries to Gary Pallister, Steve Bruce, and even perennial sub David May, Sir Alex Ferguson was left with a major defensive dilemma. Then he heard of this French centre-half pal of Eric Cantona's who could well be the solution he was looking for.

Prunier came from strong stock, having been a part of the impressive Auxerre youth setup that had also given the footballing world Cantona and Basile Boli. And not just a decent youngster, Prunier had even gone on to play for his national team and former European Cup winners, Marseille. Unfortunately, the pace of the Premier League was seemingly too much for the Frenchman, though. Or more importantly, the pace of Chris Armstrong.

Having arrived for a trial period during ’95, Prunier found himself thrust straight into the starting XI as an injury-hit United defeated QPR. In that game, Prunier actually impressed, getting an assist and showcasing his ability as a ball-playing centre-back. It was the following fixture against Spurs (and a rampant Armstrong) that saw Prunier’s Old Trafford career fall apart, however.

Untied were decimated 4-1 by Tottenham, with Armstrong on electric form. The centre-back pairing of William Prunier and Gary Neville looked absolutely shocking; not helped by injuries to Denis Irwin and Peter Schmeichel.

And that, as they say, was that. Ferguson actually wanted to keep Prunier, but the defender was having none of it – promptly declining Fergie’s offer and becoming a well-travelled journeyman before retiring in 2004.